The Imus affair is a slippery slope. If you don’t like what someone says or something you see, change the channel. Censorship from the left is still just censorship.
The hyprocrisy of getting a man fired over his speech is highlighted in an article by Ted Rall (via smirking chimp):
Talk radio host Don Imus’ April 4 reference to female members of the Rutgers University basketball team as “nappy-headed hos” prompted calls for his ousting by an ad hoc alliance of politically correct liberals and opportunistic conservatives (Imus, a political liberal, had been on the right’s hit list).
As Josh Silver, writing for the center-left Huffington Post, summarized the let-them-rant-in-the-streets argument: “For those who feel that the firing of Imus has been an affront to First Amendment free speech protections, consider this: Imus still is still a free person. He can start a blog.”
“Mel Gibson can still say whatever he wants,” a reader wrote to the New York Times. “So can Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. That personal consequences may follow free speech (like losing your job or learning not to say vicious things) doesn’t violate the Constitution.”
In other words, your boss should be able to fire you if you say something he deems “vicious”–criticizing the president, say.
Behold the Gospel of the Economic Censors! The First Amendment remains in full force for them–at full pay–but scaled back for those they don’t like. Snoop Dogg and his fellow gangsta rappers should be free to peddle their smut on CD-Rs on Harlem sidewalks, they say–but not to have it distributed and sold in stores. You know, where most people buy music.
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